America’s Most Profitable Stores

Birks & Mayors is a designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewelry, timepieces, silverware and gifts in the United States and Canada. It operates 32 stores under the Birks brand in Canada, 24 stores under the Mayors brand across Florida and Georgia, among a few others. Although it has fewer stores than any of the nine most successful stores, it still manages to have sales of $4.6 million per store. However, its revenue growth in the past year has been only about 5%, and shares are trading near a 52-week low.

In the first half of fiscal 2013, Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) opened 12 full-price stores and two outlet stores. This maker and retailer of “stylish and functional” accessories for women says it plans to open between 14 and 20 stores in each of the next five fiscal years, greatly adding to the 70 stores it had as of the end of July. Vera Bradley had the highest one-year sales growth, at 79.2%, in the RetailSails report. Net income last year was $57.9 million. The company’s share price is down more than 15% since beginning of this calendar year.

Since its founding in 2002, True Religion Apparel Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG) has grown into a $640 million global company with distribution in 50 countries. In addition to its 116 U.S. stores as of the end of July, the company also sells its denim jeans and other casual and sportswear and accessories through other major retailers and department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN). Last year’s revenue of $419 million was less than most other retailers on this list. For investors, it has been something of a roller coaster ride, with the share price up more than 58% in 2011, but down about 25% so far this year.

Select Comfort had, as of June 30, 381 company-operated Sleep Number stores across the United States, selling adjustable-firmness beds and other sleep-related accessory products. That is after both opening 22 stores and closing 22 stores in the first half of 2012. But the company said it expects a net increase in store count to between 400 and 410 by the end of the fiscal year. The company’s revenue jumped 32.6%, the 10th highest in the report. The share price more than doubled in 2011, and year-to-date, the stock price rose another 18%.